Muhammed Adel Afzal

The applicant grandparents brought a motion for a contact order with their seven-year-old granddaughter after the respondent mother cut off contact due to ongoing family conflict.

The mother argued that her parental autonomy should be respected and that the grandparents' contact should be at her discretion.

The court found that the mother's decision to terminate contact was arbitrary and not in the child's best interests, given the child's close historical relationship with the grandparents.

The court granted a temporary contact order providing for monthly in-person visits, alternating between day visits and overnights, as well as weekly virtual contact.

S.B. pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm to her 8-month-old infant, R.B., who sustained multiple fractures.

The court considered aggravating factors such as the victim's age, breach of trust, and delay in seeking medical attention, alongside mitigating factors including S.B.'s mental health issues, reduced cognitive capabilities, postpartum depression, and guilty plea.

Applying sentencing principles from R. v. McCauley and R. v. Habib, the court found special mitigating circumstances warranted a conditional sentence.

S.B. was sentenced to a 15-month conditional sentence, followed by 36 months probation, a 10-year section 110 order, and a DNA order.

The Respondent brought a motion seeking overnight access for his stepchild, Onyx, and a reduction in child support.

The Applicant opposed overnight access for Onyx, citing parental autonomy and alleged neglect/deprecation, but consented to overnight access for their natural child, Bronx.

The court found the Respondent demonstrated a "settled intention" to treat Onyx as his own, making the parental autonomy doctrine inapplicable.

The court dismissed the Applicant's claims of neglect and deprecation as inconsistent or unproven, and found her decision to withhold overnight access for Onyx arbitrary.

The court granted the Respondent parallel access for Onyx as for Bronx, and varied child support downwards based on the Respondent's updated income.